Oncostatin M receptor β deficiency attenuates atherogenesis by inhibiting JAK2/STAT3 signaling in macrophages.

Oncostatin M (OSM) is a secreted cytokine mainly involved in chronic inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases through binding to OSM receptor β (OSMR-β). Recent studies demonstrated that the presence of OSM contributed to the destabilization of atherosclerotic plaque. To investigate whether OSMR-β deficiency affects atherosclerosis, male OSMR-β^-/-ApoE^-/- mice were generated and utilized. Here we observed that OSMR-β expression was remarkably upregulated in both human and mouse atherosclerotic lesions, which were mainly located in macrophages. We found that OSMR-β deficiency significantly ameliorated atherosclerotic burden in aorta and aortic root relative to ApoE-deficient littermates and enhanced the stability of atherosclerotic plaques by increasing collagen and smooth muscle cell content, while decreasing macrophage infiltration and lipid accumulation. Moreover, bone marrow transplantation of OSMR-β^-/- hematopoietic cells to atherosclerosis-prone mice displayed a consistent phenotype. Additionally, we observed a relatively reduced level of JAK2 and signal transducer and activator of transcription in vivo and under Ox-LDL stimulation in vitro. Our findings suggest that OSMR-β deficiency in macrophages improved high-fat diet-induced atherogenesis and plaque vulnerability. Mech-anistically, the protective effect of OSMR-β deficiency on atherosclerosis may be partially attributed to the inhibition of the activation in macrophages, whereas OSM stimulation can activate the signaling pathway.

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